Summary:

Shawn and Troy are back after a break. Dave has a total MEGA movie that eclipses all others (and you can get involved). 

Jokes:  

I’m looking at the periodic table and there is no element of surprise.

---

What kind of music is best for a fishing trip?

• Something catchy.

---

What do you do with dirty nuts and bolts?

• Get a washer.

---

Can you name the six senses? The first five are easy:

Sight.
Smell.
Taste.
Hearing.
Touch.

But most people forget about Humor.

---

Guy driving a truck with an attached trailer hauling pigs zoomed by me earlier.

• Now that’s pulled pork.

---

Never ask a contortionist to tell you a joke

• They have a twisted sense of humor.

---

My back goes out more than I do.

---

Middle School Science Minute  

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com)

Megamovie 2024

I was recently reading the July/August 2023 issue of “Science Scope” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.  In this issue, I read the “Citizen Science” column, written by Jill Nugent.  She wrote an article entitled, “Megamovie 2024: A Project to Eclipse All Others.”

The primary goal of the Eclipse Megamovie Project 2017 was to produce a high definition, time-expanded, video of the total solar eclipse that crossed North America from the northwest to the southeast on August 21, 2017.  With new knowledge in-hand they are ready to initiate Eclipse Megamovie 2024.  The goals are to characterize transient plasma features in the solar corona while improving the quality of the Eclipse Megamovie aesthetically.  For more information, please visit:

https://eclipsemegamovie.org/megamovie

Reports from the Front Lines

• Summer Projects
• Prep for the upcoming year
• Social Studies Enrichment
• Classes for Recertification
• Moving update

The Social Web

Susie Dent @susie_dent

Word of the day is ‘ingordigious’ (17th century): motivated primarily by greed.  

I’ve always loved the way language is punctuated by places: jeans are ‘from Genoa’, denim is from Nîmes in France, suede from Sweden, mayonnaise from Minorca’s Port Mahon, damask from Damascus, sardines and sardonic from Sardinia, and spruce (both the tree and a neat appearance) from Prussia.  

Alice Keeler  @alicekeeler

Did you know that Khan Academy offers a free course on animation from Pixar? Join the fun with Pixar in a Box at https://khanacademy.org/computing/pixar

Monte Syrie  @MonteSyrie

When my (former) principal literally pulled my projector screen up to make sure I had a learning target during a walkthrough (despite the live, kick-ass learning experience going on in front of him), I quit learning targets. Oh, I post them, but they’re not for us. #playthegame

Richard Byrne  @rmbyrne

How to Generate Concept Maps With Artificial Intelligence

Richard Byrne  @rmbyrne

Three Good Tools for Recording Brainstorming Sessions https://freetech4teachers.com/2023/07/three- 

Shottr  @shottr_cc

Shottr v1.7 is officially out! Meet freehand drawing, spotlight tool, text highlighter, and image resizer

Cian McCarthy @arealmofwonder

Words for the Weekend  Pick your winner  A B C D (Follow for more)

Pixton @Pixton

Create a personalized classroom banner with your new students’ avatars in the first week of school!! They’ll absolutely love seeing their pictures up on the wall  Once you’re in the class on the Pixton site, go to Printables > Themed Avatars > Print All 

Matt Miller   @jmattmiller

Looking for some creative digital projects for the end of the semester? Check out some of these ideas: Annotated Wakelet collection Digital storytelling A podcast series … and more! http://ditchthattextbook.com/10-ideas-for-digital-end-of-semester-final-projects/

#DitchBook

Strategies:  

Gamification

https://ditchthattextbook.com/gamification/

Resources:  

AXIS The Culture Translator

Who Are They Talking To?

What it is: Light language is a style of speaking that claims to channel vibrations and communicate with beings not from earth. Posts that feature #lightlanguage are trending, with 237 million views on TikTok.

IJBOL

What it is: A new acronym is taking the place of “LOL” and “ROFL.” The replacement? “IJBOL,” short for “I just burst out laughing.”

Slang of the Week

Beige Flag: If green flags are positive things someone brings to a relationship and red flags are the negative things, then it would make some sense that “beige flag” would be the boring things someone brings to the relationship. Apparently, that’s what the term was originally supposed to mean, but browse #beigeflag on TikTok, and you’ll see that “beige flag” has morphed to mean the odd (often cute) habits or idiosyncrasies an individual has. Some examples of “beige flags” include thinking black clothes are all “goth” and not being able to eat without spilling food on yourself. The term seems to be most frequently used by baffled girlfriends trying to understand the weird things their boyfriends do.

Acronymy

Can we define every word as an acronym?

https://acronymy.net/

Skype A Scientist

https://www.skypeascientist.com/

Web Spotlight: 

Random Thoughts . . .  

Tech in Education

Should all teachers teach technology?

https://troypatterson.me/2023/08/11/tech-in-education/

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Summary:

Shawn and Troy talk about summer, microphones, ChatGPT, and more. Dave shines the light on the Great Eclipse of 2024.

Jokes:  

Do you think it’s strange that my daughter talks about Cheers characters

• or is that the Norm?

---

“Have you noticed any patterns with your balding?” asked my doctor.

• “Yes,” I replied, “whenever it happens I look in the mirror and have a little cry.”

---

What did the southern math-focused acorn say when he grew up?

• “Gee, Ah’m a tree!”

---

The dictionary publishing facility burned down overnight.

• Locals are at a loss for words.

---

John’s coffee table book about renovated basements has made the best cellar list.

---

Little Johnny had a chance in band to switch from bass drum to trumpet.

• But he blew it.

---

John fell asleep at the hobby table with his face on his jigsaw tiles.

He woke up with a puzzled look on his face.

---

A new club that assembles wooden furniture has been formed.

• I hope they let me join.

---

I tried to apologize to Sharon for saying her skin felt a bit leathery today but she is not suede.

---

Looking to hire someone to be in charge of my TV controls.

• Must work remotely.

---

In his whole life, Caesar never once said “Thank you.”

• He also didn’t speak English.

---

Middle School Science Minute  

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com)

K12Science Podcast:  Solar Eclipse 2024

I was recently reading the July/August 2023 issue of “Science Scope” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.  

In this issue, I read the “Commentary” column, written by Kurtz Miller.  He wrote an article entitled, “Preparing for the Great American Eclipse of 2024.”

The Great American Eclipse of 2024 will pass across the United States on Monday, April 8, 2024, from Eagle Pass, Texas to Presque Isle, Maine.  It is important to consider how to prepare for this upcoming event.

http://k12science.net/solar-eclipse-2024/

Reports from the Front Lines

• Books To Read:
  • Lead From Where You Are
  • 10 Mindframes for Leaders
• Microphones
  • Yeti
  • AT2020
  • Babbl 

The Social Web

𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐬   @Principal_H

Good teaching is ¼ preparation and ¾ theatre. #education #teacher #leadership #school #autism #sped #teachertwitter #twitteredu #fridaymorning

Eric Curts  @ericcurts

 Google begins to roll out NotebookLM – https://blog.google/technology/ai/notebooklm-google-ai/

 Train the AI on your own Google Docs  Get summaries, ask questions, generate ideas  Great potential for students working with class notes & content #edtech #GoogleEDU 

Larry Ferlazzo  @Larryferlazzo

This site provides short descriptions of every kind of known writing system developed by humans https://worldswritingsystems.org

Alice Keeler  @alicekeeler

Quick and Dirty: start a lesson plan with STUDENTS thinking. 5 E’s lesson plan: Engage, Explore, EXPLAIN, Extend, Evaluate

Lizisthemeanestmom  @Lizb7Rawlins

Educators, what are some quick and easy ways you keep your families engaged in what is happening in the classroom? I set myself up with the goal to make positive phone contact with each parent each week, but I couldn’t keep up.

AMLE@AMLE

Ready to hit the ground running his school year? Check out some of AMLE’s most popular #B2S workshops, like:  Onboarding new #middleschool parents  The changing young adolescent  Teaming & Advisory program development & more!

Toby Price  @jedipadmaster

Principals … here’s an awesome ice breaker your teachers are guaranteed to love…it’s called “Go work in your classroom.” #edutwitter

Susie Dent  @susie_dent

My regular reminder that to be ‘thunderplumped’ is to be soaked to the skin in seconds by a heavy downpour.  Resistentialism is the belief that inanimate objects are out to get you (in case anyone is having a morning like mine).

Strategies:  

Google Bard

You can now access Bard in new languages and countries, customize responses, add images to your prompts and more.

Interact with Bard in new places and languages

Starting today, you can collaborate with Bard in over 40 languages, including Arabic, Chinese, German, Hindi and Spanish. 

Get more customized responses

Listen to responses

Easily adjust Bard’s responses – You can now change the tone and style of Bard’s responses to five different options: simple, long, short, professional or casual.

Boost your productivity

Pin and rename conversations

Share responses with friends

Use images in your prompts – Whether you want more information about an image or just need help coming up with a caption, you can now upload images with prompts and Bard will analyze the photo to help. This feature is now live in English, and we’ll expand to new languages soon.

https://blog.google/products/bard/google-bard-new-features-update-july-2023/

Resources:  

Scam Spotter

According to the FTC, consumers reported losing more than $8.8 billion to fraud in 2022, a 44% increase over the prior year.

https://scamspotter.org/

Magnetic Poetry

You could also have kids create these themselves. 

http://magneticpoetryplayonline.com/ 

World In Data

https://ourworldindata.org/

https://ourworldindata.org/teaching

AXIS The Culture Translator

Looking Like a Snack 

What it is: Loaded snack plates dubbed “girl dinner” are being posted on TikTok and Instagram.  Start the conversation: What would be on your ideal snack plate?  

Thumbscrollers 

What it is: A survey from the makers of mobile game Candy Crush indicates that younger people are embarrassed to use their index fingers to scroll on their phones.  Start the conversation: Have you ever noticed who scrolls with their thumb and who scrolls with their index finger? Why do you think it’s different across generations?    

OER:  Go Open Michigan

Welcome to #GoOpen Michigan. Explore our library of open education resources and join a network of Michigan educators who are dedicated to using high quality, openly-licensed educational resources. 

https://goopenmichigan.org/

HERE IS A LIST OF GAMES CHATGPT SAYS IT CAN PLAY WITH ELLS TO HELP THEM LEARN ENGLISH

https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2023/07/11/here-is-a-list-of-games-chatgpt-says-it-can-play-with-ells-to-help-them-learn-english/

Web Spotlight: 

Michigan Electronic Library

Curated library resources. You’ll need an EBSCO account, Michigan local library card, or a Michigan Driver’s License.  Sorry Maine* . . . 

https://www.mel.org/welcome   

* Check your statewide library (and local library), there are now lots of resources. 

Random Thoughts . . .  

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Summary:

Shawn and Troy talk about teaching kids to read, summer activities, and more. Dave takes a teachable moment with the sun not in his eyes. 

Jokes:  

Most knowledgeable doctor treating children:

Encyclopediatrician.

---

Worried about appropriate discussion topics on your first date?

Go with global warming. It’s a real icebreaker.

---

A tear cascaded down her cheek as we dropped the last box off in her kitchen, she was so moved.

---

At culinary school I was told to improve my soups.

But I didn’t put much stock in that.

---

The exhausted weight lifter gave the circus owner his too weak notice.

---

Piano is the hardest instrument to pick up.

---

Does the arachnophobia group have a website?

---

13 out of 12 folks can’t explain what a baker’s dozen means.

---

After writing a book on puffins, John realized paper would have worked better

---

John hoped to go to the costume ball as Houdini in a straight jacket but feared he couldn’t pull it off.

---

---

Middle School Science Minute  

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com)

K12Science Podcast:  Teachable Moments

I was recently reading the July/August 2023 issue of “Science Scope” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.  

In this issue, I read the “From the Editor’s Desk” column, written by Patty McGinnis.  She wrote an article entitled, “Hurrah for Teachable Moments.”

Two wonderful teachable celestial events will occur during this school year in North America, allowing plenty of time to plan.  A solar eclipse “double-header” occurs on Saturday, October 14, 2023 (an annular eclipse) and on Monday, April 8, 2024 (a total eclipse).

http://k12science.net/teachable-moments/

Reports from the Front Lines

• Medical Course in Moodle
  • Pressbooks
  • H5P
• Treasure Hunt Activity
• Podcast Update
  • ID3 Tags
  • Removed links

The Social Web

Timothy Shanahan  @ReadingShanahan

Can we really teach prosody and why would we want to? https://shanahanonliteracy.com/blog/can-we-re 

By contrast:  https://www.ted.com/talks/benjam

in_zander_the_transformative_power_of_classical_music?language=en  

Susie Dent  @susie_dent

Word of the morning is ‘snudge’ (17th century): to remain snug and quiet; to nestle.

Word of the day is ‘battology’ (17th century): needless and tiresome repetition in speaking or writing, often used to avoid answering the question.

Word of the day is ‘gloppen’ (15th century): to stare in amazement or gloom (can encompass anything from the weather to the state of the world).  

ISTE  @ISTEofficial

“In the age of AI, what are the uniquely human skills that are essential that we can teach our students?” – @RCulatta

Phyllis Fagell, LCPC  @Pfagell

How to help teens cut back on social media. Tips from ⁦ @nytimeswell

⁩

National Park Service  @NatlParkService

Hello there! We’ve been trying to reach you about your car’s extended warranty…

Phyllis Fagell, LCPC  @Pfagell

While out for ice cream with friends, their kid tracked them down using Life360 & asked them to bring him home a cone. 

Bob Harrison  @bharrisonEDU

Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? is now on #GoogleEarth!  https://t.co/08Xz7Phscs  

The Unboxing Video: A fun classroom video activity: https://ditchthattextbook.com/unboxing/ via

@jmattmiller

Peter Beens @pbeens@mstdn.ca

Want to download subtitles from a Youtube video? Simply put “subtitle.to/” in front of the URL.
If you download it as a text (TXT) file you can ask #ChatGPT to summarize it. (I like asking it to use bullet points.)

Resources:  

Prokudin-Gorskii Collection

Around 1907, Prokudin-Gorskii envisioned and formulated a plan to use the emerging technological advancements that had been made in color photography to systematically document the Russian Empire. Through such an ambitious project he intended to educate the school children of Russia with his “optical color projections” of the vast and diverse history, culture, and modernization of the Empire. Outfitted with a specially equipped railroad car-darkroom provided by Tsar Nicholas II, and in possession of two permits that granted him cooperation from the Empire’s bureaucracy and access to restricted areas, Prokudin-Gorskii documented the Russian Empire from 1909 through 1915. He conducted many illustrated lectures of his work. His assistants are sometimes credited on prints seen in other collections.

Prokudin-Gorskii left Russia in 1918, after the Russian Revolution, and eventually settled in Paris, where he died in 1944.

https://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?st=grid&co=prok

How this was Digitized and the background of the collection: 

https://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/prok/digitizing.html

Emoji Pack

https://beehive.gay/blobbee

AXIS:  The Culture Translator

The Sound of Freedom

What it is: Sound of Freedom, an Angel Studios film about the human trafficking industry, is out in theaters for a limited time.  Start the conversation: What do you know about human trafficking?  

Web Spotlight: 

Hosting a ‘Bring Your Grown-Up to Class Day’ in Middle School

While family involvement is often promoted in elementary school, there aren’t always opportunities for students to invite the important adults in their lives into their middle school classrooms beyond events like concerts and award ceremonies.  

https://www.edutopia.org/article/family-engagement-middle-school/

Talking the technology talk

https://kappanonline.org/talking-to-students-about-technology-krutka-pleasants-nichols/

Subscribe to Middle School Matters:

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Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Summary:

Shawn and Troy talk about H5P, summer, socials, and more. Dave builds some science. 

Jokes:  

Out of the zillions of weddings that have occurred, not one bride has married the best man.

---

At night cowpokes would tightly tie two lanterns to the ends of a horizontal pole on their steed.

It was the first saddle light navigation.

---

I heard southern e-mail options have a Reply Y’all.

---

How did Noah see to navigate at night?

Flood lights.

---

Finished TWO books yesterday.

Man, that was a lot of coloring.

---

I saw the electric pencil sharpeners in Staples but failed to find the electric pencils.

---

Many a helicopter pilot has been active in the Rotary Club.

---

As a kid you also get to watch your parents grow up.

---

I told a joke about a one-legged chair.

It didn’t sit well.

---

John’s doing two sets of crunches a day — Cap’n in the morning and Nestlé at night.

---

Did the person who coined the phrase “one-hit wonder” ever come up with anything else?

---

---

---

Middle School Science Minute  

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com)

K12Science Podcast:  Building Science Engineer 

I was recently reading the May/June 2023 issue of “The Science Teacher” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.  

In this issue, I read the “Career of the Month” column, written by Luba Vangelova.  She wrote an article entitled, “Building Science Engineer.”

Broadly speaking, building science involves the study of how heat, air, and moisture move through a building’s components.  Andrea DelGiudice is an associate principal and unit manager specializing in building enclosures (exteriors).

http://k12science.net/building-science-engineer/

Reports from the Front Lines

• Podcast Feed Update
  • Shawn’s suggested show artwork (Diffusion Bee):  
  •  
  • (Prompt:  middle school student 1932) 
• H5P Presentation
  • Documentation Tool

The Social Web

Fermat’s Library  @fermatslibrary

This is one of the biggest numbers you can find in a physics paper. It’s the expected distance one would travel before encountering another visible-universe-sized region of space with an identical quantum state as ours.

Matt Miller  #ISTELive  @jmattmiller

Have some time for a quick virtual  field trip? Looking for a video to add to a lesson? Want to have your class listen to a fun read aloud? Our TEACHFLIX page has all that and more! Browse through tons of videos all in one spot! https://ditchthattextbook.com/teachflix #Ditchbook

𝗧𝗖𝗘𝗔@TCEA

Drawing Challenge ACCEPTED! https://sbee.link/p4qv8e7wdk via Adventure in a Box #art #steam #creativity #skillbuilding

Tracy Fuentes @TracyFuentes17

My students always LOVE this activity! We did it a lot during advisory!

Quote Tweet

Jonathan Alsheimer @mr_Alsheimer

Week 1 TEACHER ACTIVITY  Simple ways to Enhance Student Engagement and have fun building relationships and community in your classroom. “TOWER OF TERROR” old school video with that new school ENERGY   Directions in video w/ Example HAVE FUN!… Show more

‼️Week 1 TEACHER ACTIVITY ‼️

Simple ways to Enhance Student Engagement and have fun building relationships and community in your classroom.

“TOWER OF TERROR” old school video with that new school ENERGY 💥

✏️ Directions in video w/ Example🎥👇

HAVE FUN!… pic.twitter.com/zM84Zj0VDb

— Jonathan Alsheimer (@mr_Alsheimer) June 29, 2023

𝗧𝗖𝗘𝗔  @TCEA

10 Top Cooperative #Learning Strategies https://sbee.link/qwk73je896 via @edtechneil #education #teachersoftwitter #learning

Steve Dembo No longer @ ISTE but still buzzing!@teach42

My first presentation at #ISTELive will be @ 2:00pm in Terrace Ballroom IV. It’s focused on the work my middle school students did with ChatGPT, the activities we did, the conversations we had, and the Ethical Use Policy the students created to govern their use of AI! #ISTELive23  

-with-

Mrs. Wesley-Hosier  @MrsWesleyHosier

Exciting news friends, Google is launching an AI-powered feature on #Chromebooks that converts images to text! How awesome. DYK that there are more than 360 billion PDFs inaccessible to people who rely on screen readers? This will be a game changer.

Ten simple Rules for making good oral presentation

Dr Asma Jabeen

nopdtosrSehi9 nMc0 0g:c85h98leufAgfi1af 0mf659 a928112mtJuc3

Ten simple Rules for making good oral presentation.  

https://graduate.unl.edu/connections/ten-simple-rules-making-good-oral-presentations

Resources:  

From Dave:

I took you up on your challenge of reviewing the Anatomy and Physiology Resources from the Health and Science Pipeline Initiative.  I was really impressed with this resource.  They are really well done.  But they may not really meet the needs of middle school teachers/students.  They are kind of advanced.  I think the most appropriate section might be the “Anatomical Language.”  It helps to explain anatomical language, medical terminology and has a fifth grade appropriate body systems poster.  A middle school teacher who teaches Middle School Life Science might like to check the resources out and see if they work out.  MS LS1 1-7  Side note:  HASPI also has a middle school curriculum:  http://www.haspi.org/middle-school.html  

A New Summer Tradition, a Three-Week ‘Civic Season,’ Asks Americans to Reflect on the Past and Future

Civic Season, a three-week period that stretches from Flag Day on June 14 through the Fourth of July, and includes Juneteenth and Pride Month, is a new initiative arising from a broad coalition of museums and non-profit organizations. The project aims to ask Americans, and young people in particular, to stretch the usual bounds of the red-white-and-blue festivities to include a new mission of reflection and civic engagement.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/new-summer-tradition-two-week-civic-season-asks-americans-reflect-past-and-future-180977979/

https://www.thecivicseason.com/

Teaching with Historic Places

Teaching with Historic Places offers a series of more than 160 classroom-ready lesson plans that use historic sites as a means for exploring American history. Educators and their students can work through these online lesson plans directly on the computer or print them out and photocopy them for distribution.

You can browse lesson plans by theme, time period, and state.

https://www.nps.gov/subjects/teachingwithhistoricplaces/lesson-plans.htm

Media Literacy

Welcome to my (Wes Fryer @wfryer‘s) resource sharing site on media literacy. I’ve created this space to collect and amplify ideas and resources related to media and digital literacy.

https://medialiteracy.wesfryer.com/

Media Literacy Lessons from Finland

https://www.speedofcreativity.org/2023/06/20/media-literacy-lessons-from-finland/

https://www.mlsummit.net/

See also France 24’s Truth or Fake:  https://www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/truth-or-fake/  

Web Spotlight: 

Archaeologists use artificial intelligence to translate 5,000 year old cuneiform tablets.  

https://www.heritagedaily.com/2023/06/archaeologists-use-artificial-intelligence-ai-to-translate-5000-year-old-cuneiform-tablets/147816?fbclid=IwAR3Y_51pjgz6Q57DliijM__7d61f1m950Zlm_ntyerSMrV8qulzgpVLULPg

Babylonian Engine AI Translator:  https://digitalpasts.github.io/docs/BEn.html  

Demo Page:  https://ben-digpasts.com/demo  

AXIS: The Culture Translator

The Depths of Cruelty

What it is: As the search for the Titan submersible took over the news cycle last week, some people shared memes that weren’t exactly kind to the victims in this tragedy.  Start the conversation: Did you see a lot of memes or commentary about the Titan submersible tragedy?

Up for Debate

What it is: The Free Press reports that high school students are losing debates due to their personal beliefs or even their past tweets.  According to this article, some judges at local, regional, and national NSDA events openly state their biases on a website called Tabroom, which debaters are instructed to appeal to. Judges have said and continued to say that sometimes attacks on another debate contestant’s character or social media presence are acceptable, as long as they can be verified via documentation like a screenshot. Some judges have also said that certain points of view are simply unacceptable to present. Debate clubs were once an incubator for those who aspired to the public square. It would appear that now, our future attorneys, civic leaders, and politicians are being taught that the ability to adhere to a wriggly ideology is more valuable than the technical skill required to present an argument well.  

Start the conversation: Do you see the ability to express unpopular perspectives as being important and worthwhile? Why or why not?

Shameless

What it is: An influencer on TikTok is going viral for reading her embarrassing and often expletive-ridden diary posts from middle school and high school. 

Why it’s relatable: Mackenzie Thomas (@dumbmackenzie) was a comedian with a relatively small TikTok following before she hit upon the idea to share her teenage memoirs. She reads from her notebooks with a deadpan seriousness, perhaps to convey the earnest tone in which they were penned. The result is cringe comedy.  

Start the conversation: Would you share your journal with an audience if it meant you could go viral?

Lauren Enders: Reimagining Canva as a Powerful Tool for AAC

In this session, you will learn how the wildly popular, powerful, and versatile Canva app can be used to support AAC Learners (either in-person or virtually). In addition to a paid Pro version, Canva offers both a free version (that anyone can use) AND the robust Canva for Education subscription that is FREE for all K-12 educators! Tune in to learn how this fun and all-around mighty tool can be used in creative ways to engage all types of learners. Demonstrations will include exciting new Canva features that even include artificial intelligence (AI). Not super tech-savvy? No worries, Canva has one of the most user-friendly interfaces around, so you can do this!

Slides or Resources for this Session

Looking for CEUs? If you watch this video on this site then towards the end you will see a survey link show up. Fill out the short survey to track your participation credit, and we’ll generate a certificate for you when you’re done watching sessions!

https://presenters.aacconference.com/videos/UVRJeVFUSXo=

Let’s Rethink Teacher Retirement

I remember hearing tributes and watching skits of people I either only knew from that year or other teachers I never worked with or heard of. I recall laughing along with inside jokes I didn’t really get. I teared up as a younger teacher shared how much they appreciated the mentorship of their colleague. A could clearly feel a sense of community among these veteran teachers.

http://ideasandthoughts.org/2023/06/20/lets-rethink-teacher-retirement/ 

AI Is a Lot of Work

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/ai-artificial-intelligence-humans-technology-business-factory.html

Why do creative people need time to sit around and do nothing?

That they understood something fundamental that our fast-paced society often dismisses. And that creativity isn’t merely a product of constant labor but flourishes in the quiet moments of idleness?

A growing body of evidence suggests that periods of rest, far from being unproductive, are critical for fostering creativity. This reality holds profound implications, not only for individuals striving to boost their creative capacities but also for societies where the relentless pursuit of productivity can stigmatize periods of inactivity.

• The Edison Method

https://uxdesign.cc/why-do-creative-people-need-time-to-sit-around-and-do-nothing-307f3d8d7b16

Random Thoughts . . .  

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

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Summary:

Shawn and Troy talk about transitioning the year, organized chaos, moving and more. Dave has part 2 of Scientific Literacy. 

Jokes:  

A book about proposed accomplishments in your life: 

• oughtobiography

---

A pizza is basically a real-time pie chart of how much pizza is left.

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Down at the concert hall, the premiere of “Concerto for Kazoo and Timpani” turned out to be rather humdrum.

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How do baseball and congress differ?

In baseball you’re out if caught stealing.

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To the person who stole my place in line — I’m after you now.

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Entered what I ate yesterday into my new fitness app and it sent paramedics to the door.

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The early worm gets the bird.

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You never hear about people having hootenannies anymore.

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He tried so hard to quit spelunking.

But he caved.

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John opened a successful telescope factory.

Things are looking up.

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How long did jousts last?

Usually until knightfall.

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YouTube videos on how to use a fire extinguisher should not start with a 30-second ad.

Middle School Science Minute  

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com)

K12Science Podcast:  Encouraging Scientific Literacy

I was recently reading the May/June 2023 issue of “The Science Teacher” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.  

In this issue, I read the “Editor’s Corner” column, written by Ann Haley MacKenzie.  She wrote an article entitled, “Promoting Scientific Literacy in the Science Classroom.”

This is the second of a two-part podcast series on Scientific Literacy.  In this podcast we will look at the strategies for encouraging scientific literacy:

1.  Incorporate real-world examples

2.  Encourage critical thinking

3.  Provide hands-on learning opportunities

4.  Use many kinds of media resources

5.  Address misconceptions

6.  Collaborate with community resources

7.  Creating a culture of making student thinking visible

http://k12science.net/encouraging-scientific-literacy/

Reports from the Front Lines

• 25 Years – Moving Day
• End of the Year/Beginning of New Year activities

The Social Web  

Susie Dent@susie_dent

It’s Friday, so here’s a reminder that as well as a ‘snaccident’ (the inadvertent eating of far too many crisps etc.),  A gentle reminder of the word ‘matutolypea’: grumpiness or downheartedness first thing in the morning. Based on Latin and Greek, literally ‘morning grief’, or ‘sorrow of the dawn’.

Richard Byrne  @rmbyrne

I was in a pie eating contest at my daughter’s preschool carnival today. I won!

Ron Houtman  @ronhoutman

Figma’s design tools are now free for all US school students https://buff.ly/3qOhIwq

Bob Harrison  @bharrisonEDU

The skills required for life in the era of AI will primarily be human skills. (graphic from Serena Sacks-Mendel)

Matt Miller  @jmattmiller

15 Google Forms templates you can use in class TOMORROW! Interest Survey Digital Escape Room Brain Dump Self correcting quiz Lesson reflection and MORE!  https://ditchthattextbook.com/google-forms-templates/  #Ditchbook  

otacke @otacke@chaos.social

As of today, my #H5P content type GameMap is under review of the H5P core team. Should be available on the H5P Hub soon – fingers crossed. Until then, feel free to download the demo content from https://www.olivertacke.de/labs/2023/03/02/heres-game-map-my-25th-h5p-content-type-thats-publicly-available/ if you want to install it now.

Al Yankovic  @alyankovic

Ugh. I keep telling them… I AM human!!!

erou@erou@mathstodon.xyz

When your favorite student asks you if you’re going to be their teacher next year: 

Resources:  

EdTech Books

Free Textbooks and Journals by Industry-Leading Professors and Other Experts.

https://edtechbooks.org/

K-12 Teaching Collection

These free books were specifically designed with K-12 teachers in mind.

They address a variety of topics and may be useful in many settings, including teacher education, licensure, and professional development.

https://edtechbooks.org/k-12

HASPI Lessons & Labs

The HASPI Anatomy and Physiology resources were created through collaboration with industry members, higher education representatives, high school science teachers, and middle school science teachers. The resources are meant to be used in an anatomy and physiology course OR as a supplement for health career oriented courses.  http://www.haspi.org/anatomy-and-physiology.html  

AXIS The Culture Translator

Slang of the Week

Delulu: Shorthand for the word “delusional,” this term is used to refer jokingly to the decision to believe something—a relationship, a dream job, a perfect life—is real and possible despite there being no evidence to support that belief. The word is most often used when people reinterpret insignificant interactions as romantic in nature, and has also given rise to the word “delusionship,” referring to a whole imagined relationship. (Ex: “I think Jungkook and I might end up together.” “I think you’re delulu.”)

Web Spotlight: 

Literacy and NAEP Proficient

In February, 2023 Bari Weiss produced a podcast, “Why 65% of Fourth Graders Can’t Really Read” and Nicholas Kristof, New York Times columnist, wrote “Two-Thirds of Kids Struggle to Read, and We Know How to Fix It.” Both headlines are misleading. The 65% and two-thirds figures are referring to the percentage of 4^th graders who scored below proficient on the last reading test of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), administered in 2022.

The problem is this: scoring below proficient doesn’t mean “can’t really read” or “struggling to read.”   It also does not mean “functionally illiterate” or identify “non- readers” as some of the more vituperative descriptions on social media have claimed. It doesn’t even mean “below grade level in reading,” one of the milder distortions.

This post is on what scoring NAEP proficient means.

NAEP’s definition isn’t what most people think—or most dictionaries say—that the word means. 

https://tomloveless.com/posts/literacy-and-naep-proficient/

In Praise of Waffling

If there are any continuing threads at this blog, one is certainly that education in general and teaching in particular are about balance, about managing the tension between a wide variety of conflicting forces and ideas. Students need direction. Students need freedom. Direct instruction. Discovery. Learning mastery takes whatever time it takes. 

Balancing them as we move from circumstance to circumstance, from class to class, from student to student– it looks a lot like waffling.

There is lots of very specific teacher advice to be had, and every last bit of it is only useful in specific circumstances. “You must not get personally connected to the students” and “You have to forge more of a personal connection with the students” are both perfectly solid pieces of advice in entirely different specific circumstances. “Tighten up and act more like the adult in the room” and “loosen up and don’t be so strict” are both great pieces of advice in the right moment, and terrible pieces of advice in the wrong moment.

“Use a hose to shoot thousands of gallons water at the house” is great advice when the house in on fire. It is terrible advice if the house is caught in rising flood waters.

https://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/2023/06/in-praise-of-waffling.html

All Shootings at Schools From 1970-Present

All shootings at schools includes when a gun is brandished, is fired, or a bullet hits school property for any reason, regardless of the number of victims, time, or day of the week.

Unlike other data sources, this information includes gang shootings, domestic violence, shootings at sports games and afterhours school events,  suicides, fights that escalate into shootings, and accidents. 

This information is recorded to document the full scope of gun violence on school campuses.

Use of this data must be cited with: Riedman, David (2022). K-12 School Shooting Database.

https://k12ssdb.org/all-shootings

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Summary:

Shawn and Troy talk about the end of the year. Dave presents Scientific Literacy, Part 1. 

Jokes:  

I like yearbooks but 365 days to read something is a long time.

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The stationary shop moved.

• It really surprised me.

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The local pharmacist has started wearing a tux, spats and top hat to work — so he could dispense with the formalities.

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Possessio is nine-tenths of the word.

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Ordering a large hatchet from Poland is one way to get a foreign axe sent.

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(Heard at a Spelling Bee)

“Your word is buffering.”

“OK. Tell me when you’re ready.”

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Wife: “That’s the fifth time you’ve gone for a dessert. Aren’t you chagrined?”

Hubs: “Not at all. I just tell ‘em it’s for you.

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Time travel isn’t what it will have been.

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What can you see twice in a week or once in every year – but not once in gazillion months?

• The letter “e”.

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Cross country skiing is so much easier in tiny countries.

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“You drank a gallon of invisible ink? Skip the ER. Ask for the ICU.”

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John thought “Caesarean” started with an “S” — but after consulting Merriam-Webster, he found it to be in the C-section.

Middle School Science Minute  

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com)

K12Science Podcast:  Scientific Literacy

I was recently reading the May/June 2023 issue of “The Science Teacher” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.  

In this issue, I read the “Editor’s Corner” column, written by Ann Haley MacKenzie.  She wrote an article entitled, “Promoting Scientific Literacy in the Science Classroom.”

This is the first of a two-part podcast series on Scientific Literacy.  In this podcast we will look at the meaning of Scientific Literacy – “understanding how science is done.”  The next podcast will look at strategies for incorporating Scientific Literacy.

http://k12science.net/scientific-literacy-2/

Reports from the Front Lines

• Summertime?
  • Packing up the Room
    • Generational “Revenge?”  
  • Meetings
• Moodle
  • Logs
  • Activity Completion Checklist
  • Student Quiz Creation Plugin
  • Documentation Tool
  • H5P AR/VR tour
  • Treasure Hunt
• Junteenth
• Genius Week
  • Projects turned out well (presentation to the entire team)
  • Documentation Tool
    • How to work together
    • Time management
  • Twisted Wave
• End of the Year Ceremonies
  • Letter to myself
  • “Graduation”

The Social Web  

𝗧𝗖𝗘𝗔@TCEA

Check out 275 WOULD YOU RATHER Questions to use as bellringers or #writing prompts.  https://sbee.link/qd7ynm8r49 via @simplifycreate #iteach #ela #education

Larry Ferlazzo @Larryferlazzo

The Best Fun Videos For English Language Learners In 2023 – Part One

Susie Dent  @susie_dent

Word of the day is ‘brabblement’ (16th century): noisy infighting or toys-out-of-pram-throwing.

Dr. Catlin Tucker  @Catlin_Tucker

 Use my #GoalSetting Template to help your students develop their #metacognitive muscles: #SEL #SelfManagement #EdChat #UKEdChat #EdchatEU #AussieED #EduTwitter

Strategies:  

Do2Learn

Do2learn is primarily targeted at students with special needs but can be useful to anyone who wants to work on social skills and behavioral regulation.

https://www.techlearning.com/how-to/what-is-do2learn-and-how-can-it-be-used-for-teaching-tips-and-tricks

Just Breathe

3 Breathing exercises for students. 

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/03/03/well/mind/breathing-exercises.html

Resources:

Who Can Use

Color Combinations. Great for ADA compliance, seeing color combinations

https://www.whocanuse.com/?bg=7f40bf&fg=ffffff&fs=16&fw=

AXIS The Culture Translator

Bed Rotting: A phrase used to refer to spending an extended amount of time in bed, which could be any length of time ranging from a few hours to an entire weekend. The time might be spent binge-watching shows, eating, or just laying there. The trend is being considered a form of self-care, with over 305 million video views on TikTok about this habit, but some mental health experts are concerned that excessive amounts of time spent in bed could be either a symptom or a cause of depression.  

Baby Gronk + Livvy

What it is: Sports fans on the internet let out a collective “what?” this week over a TikTok post that brought LSU gymnast Olivia “Livvy” Dunne and an elementary school football hopeful nicknamed “Baby Gronk” together.

What Came First

https://experiments.withgoogle.com/what-came-first

Web Spotlight: 

Fastest Rubik’s Cube Solver

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh8HX4itF_w

A Day on Earth Used to Only Be 19 Hours

https://www.universetoday.com/161937/a-day-on-earth-used-to-only-be-19-hours/

Google Drawing Tip

When you fill a shape with a semi-transparent custom color, the shape becomes partly see-through. 

What Is Juneteenth?

When Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger issued the above order, he had no idea that, in establishing the Union Army’s authority over the people of Texas, he was also establishing the basis for a holiday, “Juneteenth” (“June” plus “nineteenth”), today the most popular annual celebration of emancipation from slavery in the United States. 

https://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/history/what-is-juneteenth/

Open Education is a Problem for OER in K-12

Those in Higher Ed and many in K-12 who are involved in Open Education, Open Learning, Open Practice, Open Teaching, or Open Praxis will likely see my assertion as heresy, a sacrilege, or ignorance, or that I have some hidden agenda. My agenda isn’t hidden; my agenda is the promotion of the use of OER, especially in elementary and secondary schools (K-12.)

https://developingprofessionalstaff-mpls.blogspot.com/2022/01/open-education-is-problem-for-oer.html

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Summary:

Shawn and Troy talk about the end of the year, share lots of stories and more. Dave thunders in with a great activity. 

Jokes:  

Due to inflation, one has to pay more attention.

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When people say to me “I’ve had enough of your nonsense” I give them a little more of my nonsense, in case they were just being polite.

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Every time I see my chiropractor he cracks me up.

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Elton John’s pet rabbit got a personal trainer.

It’s a little fit bunny.

Shawn’s Reference:  https://www.amazon.com/Homer-Price-Robert-McCloskey/dp/0142404152/ref=sr_1_1?crid=DK5WXYRHE9MY&keywords=Homer+Price&qid=1686411404&sprefix=homer+price%2Caps%2C102&sr=8-1  

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Jar Jar Binks had a published cousin — Jor Jor Well.

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Wandering cavemen: meanderthals.

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Does a new head meteorologist at a TV station come in and take the rains?

---

Middle School Science Minute  

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com)

K12Science Podcast:  Thunderstorms

I was recently reading the May/June 2023 issue of “Science & Children” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.  

In this issue, I read the “Science 101” column, written by Matt Bobrowsky.  He wrote an article entitled, “What Are Some Fun Activities Related to Thunderstorms?.”

There are several activities you can do related to thunderstorms or just rain.  One activity is to try and tell if a storm is getting closer to you or farther away and then determine the distance.

http://k12science.net/thunderstorms/

Reports from the Front Lines

• One week with students
• Big Move
  • Little Move
• Summer work
• Spreadsheets
• H5P Presentation 

The Social Web  

Susie Dent  @susie_dent

My latest top ten for @whynowworld. Includes ‘quisquilious’: an adjective for ‘utter rubbish’ that sounds so beautiful no one will know what you really mean.  https://t.co/ajVJQ4mqXf  

David L. Bahnsen@DavidBahnsen

https://bahnsen.co/43Rm83X My Letter to High School Graduates – a special Dividend Cafe focusing on #financialliteracy and all the things you need to know. #housing, #creditcard debt, and what makes an economy work are all on the agenda. Feel free to share it far and wide!

https://thebahnsengroup.com/dividend-cafe/letter-to-a-high-school-graduate/?utm_source=tbgtwitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=Dividend%20Cafe

Room B17  @RoomB17

Dismantling 20 years in Room B17. Strong feelings.

Matt Miller   @jmattmiller

Sketchnotes: A mini-course and #Sketch50 challenges! http://ditchthattextbook.com/sketchnotes-a-mini-course-and-sketch50-challenges/ 

Mrs Phillips  @PhillipsClass

Absolutely love #KobiYamada books for middle schoolers. For our last day together, we read Maybe. Students marveled @GabriellaBarouch illustrations and considered their potential short term and long term  #MiddleSchoolPictureBooks  

MoodleBox @moodlebox @openedtech.social #MoodleBox 4.5.1 is out. Install it via #RaspberryPi Imager tool! Thanks @nmartignoni  https://moodlebox.net/en/news/version-4.5.1/ #openedtech #OER

Strategies:  

Making Small Talk

Making small talk with someone you’ve just met can be terrifying. Common sense tells us we need to convince the other person that we’re smart, so we casually drop our job title, education and accomplishments.

But it turns out that’s exactly the wrong approach.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/06/harvard-researchers-the-no-1-way-to-sound-smarter-more-likable-when-making-small-talk.html

Resources:  

Deceptive Designs

Deceptive patterns (also known as “dark patterns”) are tricks used in websites and apps that make you do things that you didn’t mean to, like buying or signing up for something.

https://www.deceptive.design/

Runway

There is a free component (sign up with Google or Apple). Free (Forever) gives you the following: 

• 125 credits 
• 125 credits = 8s of gen-1, 25s of gen-2, or 25 image generations.
• Can’t buy more credits 
• Can’t upscale resolution or remove watermarks on Gen-1 and Gen-2 
• Generate video up to 4 sec 
• 3 video projects 
• 5GB assets 
• Up to 3 editors 
• 720p video editor exports 
• Limited AI Magic Tools export option

Can be neat to play with. For me, the results from Stable Diffusion (I use Diffusion Bee) were better. 

https://runwayml.com/

Security Awareness Training

From Amazon. Rich examples. 

https://learnsecurity.amazon.com/en/index.html

US States That You’ve Visited

https://tenpages.github.io/us-level/us.html

Same Name – Different State

https://pudding.cool/2023/03/same-name/

Mathematical Demonstrations

Welcome to interactive mathematics teaching resources section.Below are the current set of activities with a brief description, click a launch button to start one.

Once launched you can access further information by clicking the info icon which is located in the top menu bar. Most activities also have video instructions, click the video icon if present to view.

New activities and improvements are made regularly so remember to check back for updates.

https://www.visnos.com/demos

Web Spotlight: 

How to Use Comics in Your Classroom, With MakeBeliefsComix Founder Bill Zimmerman

https://www.techlearning.com/how-to/how-to-use-comics-in-your-classroom-with-makebeliefscomix-founder-bill-zimmerman

Surgeon General’s Advisory on Social Media

Click to access sg-youth-mental-health-social-media-advisory.pdf

The Decline of Youth Sports is Making Teen Loneliness Worse

https://storylines.substack.com/p/decline-of-youth-sports-drives-teen-loneliness

From “Heavy Purchasers” of Pregnancy Tests to the Depression-Prone: We Found 650,000 Ways Advertisers Label You

What words would you use to describe yourself? You might say you’re a dog owner, a parent, that you like Taylor Swift, or that you’re into knitting. If you feel like sharing, you might say you have a sunny personality or that you follow a certain religion. 

Many of the Xandr ad categories are more prosaic, classifying people as “Affluent Millennials,” for example, or as “Dunkin’ Donuts Visitors.” 

The trove of data indicates that advertisers could also target people based on sensitive information like being “heavy purchasers” of pregnancy test kits, having an interest in brain tumors, being prone to depression, visiting places of worship, or feeling “easily deflated” or that they “get a raw deal out of life.”

https://themarkup.org/privacy/2023/06/08/from-heavy-purchasers-of-pregnancy-tests-to-the-depression-prone-we-found-650000-ways-advertisers-label-you

Illusions

http://illusionoftheyear.com/cat/top-10-finalists/2023/ 

Concert Set UP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgGuRKgvWQ4

Shepherds, Not Engineers

…one side is a slide saying “You are a shepherd, not an engineer.”

–You do not get to design your children.

He cites things like the Mozart effect as a typically North American view that more more more must be better. Stimulation matters, but only up to a certain threshold “which 98% of you have already met.” After that– well, “you just don’t have that kind of power.”

Your child is born with more than 400 psychological traits that will emerge as they mature, and they have nothing to do with you. 

Your child is not a blank slate on which you get to write.

…The better view is that your child is a genetic mosaic of your extended family. Which means this is a unique combination of the traits that run in your family line.

https://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/2023/05/shepherds-not-engineers.html

AXIS The Culture Translator

Waiting Until 8th

What it is: Parents who are choosing to wait until 8th grade or later to give their children their own smartphone were spotlighted by a piece in The Free Press (language).  

#hopecore

What it is: Optimistic posts are trending on TikTok, with #hopecore getting over 800 million TikTok views.

Random Thoughts . . .  

Watch out for new TLD’s

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Summary:

Shawn and Troy talk about Genius Week, the end of the year, and more. Dave is a natural disaster, oops, talks about natural disasters. 

Jokes:  

John ordered a small vault and a stereo online.

They arrived safe and sound.

---

All forest mushrooms can be eaten.

The secret is finding the ones that can be eaten more than once.

---

Listening to a good unknown composer to me — Joachim Raff.

He should have had a kid named Riff.

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Eating boiled oatmeal or cornmeal in water or milk can be grueling.

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I changed my mind but it still doesn’t function any better.

---

It would seem rather ironic to pass away in one’s living room.

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When you think about it, wearing a tank top in the summer is way too heavy and impractical.

---

A feisty dentist and hot-tempered manicurist got hitched.

Will they fight tooth and nail?

Middle School Science Minute  

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com)

Natural Disasters

I was recently reading the May/June 2023 issue of “Science & Children” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.  

In this issue, I read the “Editor’s Note” column, written by Elizabeth Barrett-Zahn.  She wrote an article entitled, “Natural Disasters.”

Our student population has been through a great deal in the last few years: a pandemic with gaps in school access, increased natural disasters, social unrest and violence.  Instead of backing away from teaching about natural disasters, we must provide opportunities for our students to see how scientists and engineers are actively working on solutions.

 http://k12science.net/natural-disasters/

Reports from the Front Lines

• End of the Year
• Senior Walk
• Genius Week
  • Motivational Videos
    • Foundation for a better life
    • Kid President
    • Documents:  https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1efzOd8Jc_asxcEV8M1ScKnzs10oI_ef3?usp=share_link  

The Social Web  

Mary  Reichard  @ReichardWorld

Line of the week: “I’d like to start my life again and ruin it differently. I have new ideas.” Attribution unknown

Marvin Olasky  @MarvinOlasky

We hit rock bottom on civics education. Can we turn it around?

Historic Vids  @historyinmemes

Anti ninja floors (Nightingale floor) used in Japan to alert of any trespassers

https://twitter.com/i/status/1664363298630844423

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightingale_floor

Susie Dent  @susie_dent

Word of the day is ‘joblijock’ (19th-century dialect): any disturber of domestic peace – small children bouncing on the bed/lawnmowers at dawn/the one bird whose song has to be louder than all the others at 5am [etc].  

Kristin Scearce @kscearce@mstdn.social

Libraries are the best!

Missing The Point @MissingThePt

Schrödinger would have written posts that were simultaneously funny and not funny.

Doug Holton @dougholton

Handout: Open Educational Resources & Open PedagogyLinks to resources on the basics of finding, using, and authoring #OER resources, textbooks, etc., including info on student-generated resources (#OpenPedagogy).  I’ll add a 2nd page to the handout in the coming weeks w/resources on #H5P & #Pressbooks in preparation for a workshop.

Ron King  @mthman

Another great advisory activity…AI generated Would You Rather questions. Settings include “Serious, Intellectual, Funny, and Absurd & Hilarious.” #mschat #edchat #mtbos https://autoclassmate.io/tools/would-yo

Strategies:  

Dialects

Can be fun to talk about how words are pronounced with kids. (I took a couple of these and both were wrong though). 

https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/american-accent-quiz

https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/american-accents

Resources:

Comic Book+

Here we have a bunch of titles many with very familiar names.

This crew started their lives off appearing in newspaper Comic Strips. Later their exploits were either reprinted in book format, or completely new stories were created for the comics.

Big Joe Palooka appears, along with his pal Humphrey, another spinoff from the strip. Other goodies include two Terry and the Pirates series along with a bunch of Fritzi Ritz and Alley Oop books. The Captain and the Kids also set sail on these pages.

In addition there are a large amount of issues featuring a variety of comic strip reprints courtesy of United Features.

We have 47 titles and 840 issues in our ‘Comic Strip Spinoff Category’ for you to enjoy.

Mission and Disclaimer: The mission of Comic Book Plus is to present completely free of charge, and to the widest possible audience, popular cultural works of the past. These records are offered as a contribution to education and lifelong learning. They are historical documents reflecting the attitudes, perspectives, and beliefs of different times. We at Comic Book Plus do not endorse the views expressed in these, which may contain content offensive to modern users.

We aim to house only content in the Public Domain. If you suspect that any of our material may be infringing copyright, then please use our contact page to let us know. So we can investigate further.

https://comicbookplus.com/?cbplus=comicstripspinoff

Language Reactor

Language Reactor is a powerful toolbox for learning languages. It helps you to discover, understand, and learn from native materials. Studying will become more effective, interesting, and enjoyable! 

https://www.languagereactor.com/

Emojiton

The Smart Emoji Finder

https://emojiton.com/

Diffit

We’re building Diffit to save teachers time, while making it easier than ever to get every student the differentiated resources they need to thrive.

In seconds, teachers can:

📝 Adapt existing materials for any reader

✨ Generate leveled resources for any topic

☕️ Edit, share resources with students, and get back to life

https://www.diffit.me/

Web Spotlight:

A Swedish newspaper is having AI rap its articles in an attempt to get young people interested in the news

https://www.businessinsider.com/swedish-newspaper-experimented-ai-rap-articles-to-appeal-to-youth-2023-5

Making A Billion-Year Lego Clock

Building a mechanical Lego clock that keeps time for 10000000 years. The clock has dials to display seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, decades, centuries, millenia, mega-annums and galactical years (time required for the Sun to orbit once around the centre of the Milky Way Galaxy). The first component resembles a grandfather clock with a weight-driven pendulum anchor escapement. The escapement wheel rotates 1 tooth per second. Different gear trains transmit motion from the escapement to all complications from days to years to decades. As soon as the weight touches the ground, a rewinding motor is triggered to raise the weight and “recharge the clock”. This happens every 2 minutes. A solar powered battery fuels the energy storage for the electric rewind motor. Under a cloudless sky the solar panel generates more energy than consumed by the Lego pendulum clock. A bigger energy storage could be added to run the clock at night time. To increase solar panel efficiency the solar panel is mounted on a tilting mechanism that is connected to the 24h complication, following the sun during daytime. Similar to an astronomical clock, this Lego timepiece features complications beyond minutes and hours. It displays units of times based on orders of magnitude of the second. Days, mean months and years are counted. The biggest unit is the “billion year display” that is basically a mechanical counter displaying years in decimals.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRzgCylePjk

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Summary:

Shawn and Troy share jokes, resources, grading thoughts, influencers, and more. Dave frogs out, er, well, give it a listen.

Jokes:  

Two guys went on a fishing trip, and all they got were two measly fish.

“Those fish turned out to be expensive,” said the first guy, “They ended up costing us $80 each.”

“Well if you put it that way,” said the second guy, “it’s a good thing that we didn’t catch any more.”

---

What do you call a line of 100 rabbits marching backwards?

• A receding Hare-Line

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Why is Cinderella so bad at soccer?

• She keeps running away from the ball

---

What do you call an angry carrot?

• A steamed veggie

---

Doris fell for a magician.

• It was love at first sleight.

Middle School Science Minute  

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com)

K12Science Podcast: FrogWatch USA

I was recently reading the May/June 2023 issue of “Science Scope” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.  

In this issue, I read the “Citizen Science” column, written by Jill Nugent.  She wrote an article entitled, “Surveying Sounds of the Season.” 

Participation in FrogWatch USA provides students with authentic science engagement experiences.  The large-scale and long-term project provides learners with a unique opportunity to contribute to real-world science, derive meaning from data, and make discoveries.  For more information, please visit:

https://www.akronzoo.org/frogwatch

http://k12science.net/frogwatch-usa/

Reports from the Front Lines

• Teacher or Parent?
  • COVID impact?
• Art Class
• Trip Survey
• NWEA Testing (& Maine Through Year)

The Social Web  

Susie Dent  @susie_dent

• Word of the afternoon is ‘charette’ (1950s): a period of intense activity in order to meet a deadline/upon noticing the time when you still have a pile of stuff to do. Also once known as a ‘fit of the clevers’.
• Word of the day is ‘matutinal’ (18th century): cheery, active, and alert in the morning. (For those who need it, ‘crumpsy’ is the opposite.)  
• I should also say that to ‘procaffeinate’ (not yet in the dictionary) is to put everything off until you’ve had sufficient amounts of coffee.

Mr H5P  @mrh5p

Here’s how to create an accordion in #H5P. It allows you to present longer texts in sections. #H5P #Accordion #eLearning #WordPress #Moodle

Michael Love@elkmovie@mastodon.social

@mekkaokereke Reminds me of one of my all time favorite Terry Pratchett quotes:

‘Algebra?’ said Madam Frout…
‘But that’s far too difficult for seven-year-olds!’

‘Yes, but I didn’t tell them that and so far they haven’t found out,’ said Susan.

Joanne Freeman @jbf1755

Tomorrow on “History Matters:”

National Debt & Dishonor: Hamilton Had Thoughts

There are MANY reasons why defaulting on our nat’l debt would be catastrophic. Some don’t get much news coverage.

Join the History Matters community Friday for more!

#politics #debtceiling #history #histodons #hamilton

Friday 10AM ET
http://NCHEteach.org/conversations

Moodle @moodle@openedtech.social

We have been working hard to ensure our platforms are accessible to everyone and compliant with all regulations and standards.

We’re proud to announce that Moodle LMS 4.0 has achieved WCAG 2.1 Level AA accessibility compliance. ​​Not only that, it’s also our most accessible version of Moodle ever!

https://moodle.com/news/moodle-lms-4-0-achieves-wcag-2-1-aa-accessibility-compliance/

#Accessibility #MoodleLMS #WCAG

Strategies:

Students Can Solve Many of Their Own Problems

How do we empower kids to handle problems, inside and outside of the classroom? We need to let children handle small issues on their own and make mistakes.

https://www.edutopia.org/article/independent-problem-solving-in-the-classroom/

One Year of Specs Grading: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Broadly speaking, Specifications (Specs) Grading is a variation on a pass-fail, contract grading, and competency-based outcomes that ties course assignments to specific course objectives. 

https://joshuapnudell.com/2023/05/22/one-year-of-specs-grading-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/

How Finnish schools teach every child to spot fake news – and what UK parents could learn

Darja Rekani clearly remembers the day in primary school when a teacher showed a series of news reports before asking the class of Finnish 10-year-olds to pick out the fake item buried among them and explain their choice.

“Then she told us, don’t always click on the first news you see and don’t believe everything you see on the internet – that was the most important thing in our lessons,” she says.

…underlines how these Finnish students have had it drummed into them to question data and information. “It is pretty basic stuff: check more sources, check a site’s sources, don’t trust only one page,” he says, adding that such scrutiny has become natural. “Even with Wikipedia, which can be a good source, we are told not to blindly trust it but look into the sources.”

…art classes, pupils analyse images from advertising and discuss deep-fake videos. In history, they compare Allied and Nazi wartime propaganda. In maths, they discuss the use of algorithms and abuse of statistics. In language lessons, they discover how words can be manipulated, how they can mislead and be used to sow division.

Finland’s aim is not to establish “truths” but to arm citizens with the means to sift through the torrents of information found online, challenge falsehoods and come to their own informed conclusions.

https://liveapp.inews.co.uk/2023/05/24/how-finnish-schools-teach-every-child-to-spot-fake-news-and-what-the-uk-could-learn/content.html

Resources:

Want to understand your adolescent? Get to know their brain

For the parents of a teenager, adolescence can be a challenging time. But to a brain scientist, it’s a marvel.

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/05/23/1175859398/want-to-understand-your-adolescent-get-to-know-their-brain

Framadate

The Framadate is free, without ads or click traps. Our goal is to host a tool that serves you and does not use you.

Schedule a meeting or create an opinion poll

https://framadate.org/abc/en/

What is Max?

Max is an infinitely flexible space to create your own interactive software.

https://cycling74.com/products/max

Poet Training Tool

We have an unprecedented opportunity to ensure all content that is “born digital” is also “born accessible” so that all readers have access to the information they need. Use the interactive features on this website to determine when additional details are necessary and what makes for a good description.

https://poet.diagramcenter.org/

AXIS:  The Culture Translator

Another Week, Another Warning

What it is: The Surgeon General has issued a warning on the dangers of social media for teenagers.

Sounds Legit

What it is: Teens are posting like influencers, even when they don’t have high follower counts, in an effort to fake it til they make it.

Facebook Babies

What it is: Teens who were born during the heyday of Facebook and Instagram oversharing are now horrified to discover what’s been posted about their childhoods.

Web Spotlight: 

 The Fastest Maze-Solving Competition On Earth

Welcome to Micromouse, the fastest maze-solving competition on Earth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMQbHMgK2rw

Tokyo’s trash-collecting samurai takes a fun, zany approach to cleanup

The Gomi Hiroi Samurai do this three times a week. There’s four of them, and they’re professional actors. In their spare time, they volunteer to keep the streets of Tokyo clean. Goto formed the group in 2009. Since then, they have become a viral sensation on TikTok, with over 700,000 followers and counting.

https://theworld.org/stories/2023-05-19/tokyo-s-trash-collecting-samurai-takes-fun-zany-approach-cleanup

Random Thoughts . . .  

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Summary:

Shawn and Troy talk about Washington D.C. trip, institutional knowledge, end of the year, beginning of the year and more . Dave brings some real-world problems.

Jokes:  

I was asked to write some song lyrics the other day. Unfortunately, the song is an instrumental.

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The court ruled against a swimsuit model. 

• It was a summery judgement

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I went to a conference on wind turbines the other day. The vibe was incredible.

• There was a lot of energy in the air. 

---

I’ve finished half a novel. 

• It’s for the semi-literate.

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Two birds were sitting on a perch. One bird asks the other, “do you smell fish?”

---

Middle School Science Minute  

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com)

K12Science Podcast:  Real-World Problems

I was recently reading the May/June 2023 issue of “Science Scope” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.  

In this issue, I read the “From the Editor’s Desk” column, written by Patty McGinnis.  She wrote an article entitled, “Exploring Real-World Problems.”

Incorporating real-world projects provides your students with opportunities to grow not only in STEM, but also in their ability to think critically and compassionately.

http://k12science.net/real-world-problems/

Reports from the Front Lines

• Washington D.C. Trip
  • Insta360
  • Kid behavior
  • Access to “stuff”

Eileen Award  

• Omar Mo – “Just left you a 5-star review because “Slinging the Slang Making Us Thirsty!” was incredible. I really appreciate the way you discussed AI, SEL, and Parent Conferences in the episode. You gave a great overview of the topics and made it easy to understand.” 

The Social Web  

Matt Miller   @jmattmiller

80 back to school ideas and activities Including: Two NEW back to school escape rooms EduProtocols smart start New #SEL activities TONS of choice boards A folder full of resources Shapegrams & more! https://ditchthattextbook.com/back-to-school/ #Ditchbook

PUNS  @ThePunnyWorld

Rick Wormeli @rickwormeli2

Here at the end of the school year, many educators are tired-physically, emotionally, intellectually, wondering how to finish the school year w/something meaningful or inspiring. One quote from Maya Angelou helped me every year: “You Can’t Use Up Creativity, the More You Use the More You Have.” Doing creative things is a great source of Oxygen and teacher mojo. Perhaps try one creative endeavor right away: Do a chalk drawing in the teacher parking lot, create a funny video for sending off students for the summer, join students in doing a mini-opera about course content, decorate classroom windows with the removal paints used by sports teams, climb a mountain, ask students to write a letter to their future selves that you will mail at that future time, get training on how to design your own apps, do a family-friendly style of, “Whose Line is it anyway?” with students and families one evening, brainstorm with colleagues how you’re going to teach all formal writing through science, p.e., math, and social studies next year, teach one lesson entirely via puppets, or find creative ways to thank at least five colleagues for help you’ve received from them this year.

And when it comes to creativity, “Resistance is futile!” Embrace your innovative self and achieve escape velocity!

I’ve often found that when students are flagging in some way, they, like our colleagues, or usually doing the best they can. Plus, platitudes really never work, but specific actions/skills do. To get sts going here, it’s a matter of teaching executive function skills, so we need to overtly teach these skills, not simply demand sts demonstrate them. I’d also sit with students, ask them about their immediate goals for personal and academic growth, then ask coaching questions to get them to choose some concrete actions towards those goals and help them monitor their own progress. If we just tell them what to do, they don’t own it; it’s passive, and we want active. Of course, some tchrs don’t have training in all this, so admin that demands these things without providing training in it is deeply ineffective and demoralizing.

Susie Dent

@susie_dent

An unscientific analysis of the (excellent) responses to the words and phrases you’d like to ban: 10. My bad 9. The ‘optics’ of something. 8. ‘So’ at the start of a sentence. 7. Let’s go offline. 6. Basically 5. I’m not gonna lie… 4. I wanted to reach out 3. ‘like’ as a filler 2. No disrespect, but… 1. Going forward

Lake Superior State University’s Banned Word List:  https://www.lssu.edu/traditions/banishedwords/  

MrBerard @MrBerard@pilote.me

#EduGlow : The Year7 have been doing sound design last half-term. Their final project was to make a 30s bit of audio using sounds from the excellent, freely available BBC Sounds Effects Archive.

I spent the past couple of days making a podcast showcasing their submissions:

Sound Design Supercut by WBCast on #SoundCloud

on.soundcloud.com/xk26F

Strategies:  

Five Fun Year End Activities

As the end of the school year approaches, it’s time to celebrate all the hard work and accomplishments it brought. What better way to bid farewell to a memorable academic year than with some memorable activities? Let’s check out a few activity options for a little end-of-the-year fun!

https://blog.tcea.org/five-fun-end-of-the-year-classroom-activities/

Embracing Learning Through Play

A new book encourages playful learning in classrooms — for all ages. Creative Commons book is available. 

The authors of a new book say the traditional view of play and learning is a “false dichotomy” and that relegating play to the sidelines in schools is a mistake. Learning is helped by “experiences that are playful — that are joyful, meaningful, actively engaging, iterative, and socially interactive,” and school really can be enjoyable they explain in A Pedagogy of Play – Supporting Playful Learning in Classrooms and Schools. The user-friendly book is the result of eight years of research led by a team at the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Project Zero (PZ), in collaboration with the LEGO Foundation and educators at schools in Denmark, South Africa, Colombia, and the United States.

https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/uk/23/05/embracing-learning-through-play

Resources:  

The Cambridge Geek

Geeking out about science fiction, fantasy and audio/radio drama.

Every month, there are a large number of new audio drama and fiction podcasts released. These monthly lists collate everything I can find that has released an Ep1 in its dedicated fiction RSS feed for the relevant month. Feel free to shout in the comments if you’ve got more information or corrections and I’ll update with anything I’m missing.

The Cambridge Geek (or “Rob”) took a passing whim of writing a blog way too far and now has this review website which he obsessively updates as near to daily as possible. If you want something a bit more personal than that, then you may be interested to know that he’s an engineer, not any form of creative or coding whiz, so that’s his excuse for any website or language failings.

Up for review is any science fiction or fantasy he happens to read (books, comics, manga), watch (anime, films, theatre, TV), play (games), listen to (podcasts/audio shows) or attend (events). BBC Radio also sneaks in fairly frequently, and he sometimes has an original thought. If you’re lucky, The Girl might post on a Friday.

https://www.thecambridgegeek.com/

Class Quiz

Educators are buzzing around a new Kahoot and Quizziz-like tool available at no cost. This quiz website offers a host of features, the most important being that it doesn’t collect data. If you’ve used other quiz tools, you know data is collected about you and your students for their own use. ClassQuiz asserts that, unlike these other quiz tools, it doesn’t send information to third parties.

ClassQuiz works in a simple way. It allows you to take three primary actions:

• Create a quiz that allows the insertion of pictures/images
• Explore and find quizzes others have created
• Import quizzes from Kahoot! that you can then edit in ClassQuiz

As you might imagine, this import option gives you access to the content in a more established tool. Once the quiz has been set up, students select responses, view results, and see a leaderboard.

https://blog.tcea.org/classquiz/

40 sites for students with free time on their hands

https://ditchthattextbook.com/10-sites-for-students-with-free-time-on-their-hands/

Moderator Mayhem

*NOT for student use. Good construct for critical thinking. 

“Today, we’re excited to announce the launch of our newest game in partnership with Engine. Moderator Mayhem is a mobile, browser-based game that lets you see how good a job you would do as a front line content moderator for a growing technology company that hosts user-generated content (in the game, it’s a “review” website that lets you review anything, not just businesses).”

https://moderatormayhem.engine.is/

https://www.techdirt.com/2023/05/11/moderator-mayhem-a-mobile-game-to-see-how-well-you-can-handle-content-moderation/

AXIS:  The Culture Translator

Giving Players an Ultrahand

What it is: With perfect review scores abounding, Nintendo released its highly anticipated game “The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom” for the Nintendo Switch last week.

A Diet of Darkness

What it is: Despite some states trying to ban TikTok to protect users’ data privacy, an article in the Wall Street Journal argues that the bigger threat is still to teens’ mental health.

Web Spotlight:

Why birds and their songs are good for our mental health

Two studies published last year in Scientific Reports said that seeing or hearing birds could be good for our mental well-being.

“The special thing about birdsongs is that even if people live in very urban environments and do not have a lot of contact with nature, they link the songs of birds to vital and intact natural environments,” said Emil Stobbe, an environmental neuroscience graduate student at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and author of one of the studies.

Recent research also suggests that listening to recordings of their songs, even through headphones, can alleviate negative emotions.

By analyzing the data, the researchers found a significant positive association between seeing or hearing birds and improved mental well-being, even when accounting for other possible explanations such as education, occupation, or the presence of greenery and water, which have themselves been associated with positive mental health.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/interactive/2023/birds-song-nature-mental-health-benefits/

Would You Recognize a Good Lesson If You Saw It?

Would You Recognize a Good Lesson If You Saw It?

Random Thoughts . . .  

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

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